Cotton-chopper.



No. 811,106. PATENTBD JAN. 30, 1906.

' W. H. SUTTON.

GOTTGN GHOPPER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 17, 1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

x Attorneys No. 811,106. PATENTED JAN. 30

W. H. SUTTON.

GUTTON CHOPPER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 17, 1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

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Attorneys W. H. SUTTON.

COTTON GHOPPER. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 17, 1905.

/itnes I Inventr by f MW 1 l ff- M ;L Attorneys PATENTED JAN. 30, 1906.

3 SHEBTSSHEET 3.

NTTED PATENT OFFTCF.`

VILLIAM HENRY SUTTON, OF OAMDEN, ARKANSAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO JOHN T. SWANK, OF CAMDEN, ARKANSAS.

COTTON-SHOPPER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 30, 1906.

Application led June 17, 1905. Serial No. 265,795.

T0 all YLil/tom, t 71u14/ concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HENRY SUT- TON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Camden, in the county of Ouachita and State of Arkansas, have invented a new and useful Cotton-Chopper, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to cotton-choppers;

and among the objects of the invention. are to simplify and improve the construction and operation of this class of devices.

With these and other ends in view, which will readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the improved construction and nevel arrangement and combination of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings has been illustrated a simple and preferred form of the invention, it being, however, understood that no limitation is necessarily made to the precise structural details therein exhibited, but that changes, alterations, and modifications within the scope of the invention may be resorted to when desired.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a cotton-chopper constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention. Fig. 2 is abottom plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 3 3 in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 4 4 in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detail bottom plan view on an enlarged scale and showing the parts in different position from that illustrated in iig. 2. l

Corresponding parts in the several figures are indicated throughout by similar characters of reference.

ln the drawings the cotton-chopping device proper has been illustrated as mounted upon a cultivator-frame, of which 1 and 2 designate the side beams, having forwardlyconverging front ends carrying a clevis 3. The rear ends of the beams are curved downwardly to form standards 4 and. 5, upon which cultivater-sliovels 6 and 7 are mounted in the usual manner. The side beams are connected. and spaced apart by means of cross bars or braces S and 9, the former of which support handles 1() and 11, which are .connected with the front bar 9 by braces 11. Standards 12 and 13 are secured to the beams l and 2 well in advance of the rear standards, said front standards 12 and 13 being reinforced and retained in position by means of braces 14 and 15. Upon the standards 12 and 13 are supported Scrapers 16 and 17.

The side beams 1 and 2 are provided between the front and rear standards with outwardly-offset portions 18 and 19, upon which U-shaped yokes or hangers 20 and 21 are pivotally mounted by means of pins or bolts 22 23, connecting said hangers with the framebars. The latter are provided with apertured brackets 24 and 25 for the passage of the rear arms of the yokes or hangers, which are retained inengagement with the brackets, as by means of nuts 25, threaded upon their extremities. The hangers are provided with annular 'iianges or cellars 28 and 29, between which and the brackets 24 and 25 springs 26 27 are coiled upon the rear arms of the hangers, which are forced downwardly by the action of the springs, but are capable of yielding in an upward direction.

The yokes or hangers 20 and 21 support a shaft 30, upon which the chopper-carrying drum D is supported for rotation, spacingsleeves 31 32 being employed to prevent lateral movement of the drum. The latter comprises a pair of disks 33 and 34, each having a plurality of peripheral notches 34, alternating with wings or arms 35. The

disks are connected with each other by means of a plurality of plates 36, having bent ends engaging and secured upon the arms 35, said plates constituting earth-engaging blades which are substantially radial to the axis of the disks and cooperating with the latter to constitute the chopper-carrying drum. The disks constituting the ends of the drum are provided with circumferential series of apertures supporting rods or bars 37, which are slidable parallel to the axis of the drum. The ends of the rods that project through the disk 33 are provided with heads 33, and the ends of saidrods that project through the opposite disk 34 are pivotally connected with segmental or cam-shaped levers 44, which are pivoted upon lugs 45 upon the outer side of the disk 34. The apertures in which thc rods 37 are supported are to be sufficiently large to enable said rods to move freely therein when actuated, as will be presently described.

MSuitably secured upon each of the rods 37 IOO is a plate 40, having outwardly-extending 1 fluous arms 41, each provided with a slot 42 for the reception of a bolt 43, whereby a hoe-blade or chopping-blade 42 is adjustably connected with said arm. The rods 37 are actuated in the direction of the disk 34 by means of springs 39, coiled upon said rods and expanded between the disk 33 and the arms 31, the movement of the rods being limited by the heads 38 of the latter, which will abut upon the outer side of the disk 33.

The end of the hanger 21 which is pivotally connected with the frame-beam 2 has.

an offset portion 46, whereby the body of said hanger is spaced from the frame of the machine in order that it may not interfere with the rotation of the drum, which is at this end provided with the levers or cams 44. The end of the shaft 30 which is supported in said hanger 21 carries a pivoted yoke 47, through which passes a rod 48, the lower end of which is bent to form a crank 48, terminating in a pin 49, upon which is journaled a roller 50. The upper end of the rod 48 extends through a supporting-bracket 51 and is bent to form a handle portion 52, whereby said rod may be rocked oroscillated in its bearings, so as to place the roller 50 in the path of the levers 44 or out of the path of said levers, as may be desired.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings hereto annexed, the operation and advantages of this invention will be readily understood by those skilled in the art to which it appertains. Vf hen the machine is drawn over the field, with the standards straddling the row of plants that are to b e operated upon, the Scrapers upon the front standards will operate to cut the weeds and throw them in an outward direction into the spaces between the rows. The radial blades of the drum will next engage the row of plants, and it will be observed that the chopper-carrying ory hoe carrying bars are supported between alternate pairs of blades only, the spaces between the intermediate pairs of blades being left open to protect the stands that are to be left. On passing into engagement with the roller 50, which is now adjusted in the path of the levers 44, said levers will be actuated in an inward direction-that is to say, in the direction of the disk 34, with which theyare pivotally connectedthus sliding the rods 37 against the tension of the springs 39 and moving the hoes or chopper-blades in the direction of the disk 33, as will be best seen in Fig. 5 of the drawings. The levers 44 are of such a length that they will pass out of engagement with the roller 50 when the hoes are in the lowermost groundengaging position, when, being released from the pressure of the roller, the rods 37 will be forced by the action of the springs 39 in the direction indicated by the arrow A in Fig. 5, thus causing the superplants to be removed by the choppers. As the machine progresses the 'cultivatingblades will stir and agitate the soil adjacent to the row of plants, the growth of which will thus be stimulated and encouraged.

It will be particularly observed that the chopper-carrying drum is flexibly or yieldably supported by means of the yokes or hangers 2O and 21, so that itt will readily adapt itself to any inequality in the land traversed by the machine. Any such movement as may be partaken of by the drum will not interfere in the least with the operation of the rod 48, carrying the roller 50, said rod having a bearing in the yoke 47, which is journaled upon the drum-carrying shaft.

An important feature of the invention resides in the fact that each of the rods 37 carries a plurality of hoes or chopping-blades. If but a single chopping-blade was carried by each of the rods 37, it would be necessary for said rod to have a sliding movement of suflicient length to enable the hoe to traverse the entire width of the row of plants operated upon. By pluralizing the hoes or choppingblades the movement of the rods 37 may be very much shortened, since the several chopping-blades will coperate to cover the entire width of the row. The operation of the machine is thereby very much facilitated, since the movement of the sliding rods and of the levers whereby said rods are actuated may be greatly reduced. In the drawings each rod 37 has been illustrated as carrying two cotton-blades but the number of said blades, as well as their shape, may be varied within the scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is- 1. A chopper-carrying drum having radial earthengaging blades, and chopping elements movable betweensaid blades.

2. A chopper-carrying drum having radial earthengaging blades, and chopping elements movable between alternate pairs of blades.

3. A chopper-carrying drum having radial earth-engaging blades, andy chopping elements movable between said blades in a plane parallel to the axis of the drum.

4. In a cotton-chopper, a member movable transversely of the row of plants and having a plurality of chopping elements connected therewith.

5. In a cotton-chopper, a drum supported for rotation, a member supported slidably by the drum, and a plurality of chopping ele-v ments connected with said member.

6. In a cotton-chopper, a drum supported for rotation and having radial earth-engaging blades, in combination with a member supported slidably by said drum to move transversely of the row of plants, and a plurality of chopping elements connected with said member.

IOO

7'. In a cotton-chopper, a drum supported for rotation and having radial earth-engaging blades, a spring-actuated member supported slidably by the drum, a plurality of chopping elements connected with said mem ber to operate between two of the earthengaging blades, and means for forcing said member against the action of its actuating spring.

8. A drum supported for rotation and having radial earth-engaging blades, a member supported slidably by said drum to move transversely of the row of plants, a plurality of chopping elements connected with said member, a spring engaging said member to move it in one direction, a lever pivoted upon the drum and having pivotal connection with the sliding member, and movably-supported operating means for said lever.

9. A frame, resiliently-supported hangers pivoted upon said frame, a shaft supported by the hangers, a drum mounted for rotation upon the shaft, chopper-carrying spring-actuated rods supported slidably in the drum,

levers pivoted upon the latter and having pivotal engagement with the rods, a yoke pivoted upon the drum-carrying shaft, and a rock-shaft havin(r a bearing in the yoke and having a termina crank carrying a roller.

p 10. A frame having outwardly-offset portions, hangers pivotally connected therewith one of said hangers being provided with an offset portion whereby it is spaced from the body of the frame at the pivotal connecting point, a drum supported in the hangers, chop percarrying members supported by said drum for sliding movement parallel to the axis thereof, and operating means for said chopper-carrying members supported upon the side of the drum adjacent to the hanger having the offset pivotal member.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

WILLIAM HENRY SUTTON.

Witnesses:

CALviN M. VILKINS, WILLIAM MCRAE. 

